Laundry weight



H. L. FOSTER LAUNDRY WEIGHT Get. 9, 1956 FiledMarch 5, 1954 3 Herberf L.Fosfer INVENTOR.

United States Patent LAUNDRY WEIGHT Herbert L. Foster, Wake Island,Territory of Hawaii Application March 5, 1954, Serial No. 414,295 1Claim. (Cl. 16-1) This invention relates to a laundry weight, and morespecifically provides a device for attachment to the lower edges ofitems of laundry that are hanging on a clothesline for drying in orderto prevent wind from whipping and wrapping the articles of laundryaround the clothesline :and around each other.

An object of this invention is to provide a laundry Weight which issimple in construction, easy to attach, well adapted for its purposesand relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of this invention is to provide a laundry weight forattachment to laundry articles to prevent the articles from whipping andwrapping :around the clothesline such as often occurs on windy days.

A further object of this invention is to provide a laundry weight havinga structure which is easily attached to items of laundry and whichsecurely retains itself on the laundry.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 shows :an article of laundry secured to a clothesline with thelaundry weight of the present invention secured to the bottom edgethereof;

Figure 2 is :a top plan view of the laundry weight of the presentinvention;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the device of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the cylindrical weight used in thestructure of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of a modified form of the laundry weight;and

Figure 6 is a transverse detail section taken substan tially alongsection line 6-6 of Figure 5 showing the means for retaining the weighton the clip of Figure 5.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, it will be seen that thenumeral 10 generally designates the laundry weight of the presentinvention as specifically illustrated in Figures l-4, and the numeral 12generally designates the laundry weight of the embodiment illustrated inFigures 5 :and 6. The laundry weight 10 is adapted to be attached to thefree edge of an item of laundry 14 secured to a clothesline 16 bysuitable clothespins 18. The laundry weight 10 includes a pair ofelongated members 20 and 22 having a pair of inwardly extending lugs 24thereon and a pivot pin 26 extending through the matching lugs 24thereby pivotally securing the members 22 and 20 together. A coil spring28 is positioned around the pivot pin 26 and includes laterallyextending end portions 30 which engage the inner surface of the members20 and 22 respectively. Integral with the elongated members 20 and 22 isan extension 32 forming a tubular member having bendable tabs 34thereon. The bendable tabs 34 are positioned on each end of the tubularmember formed by the extension 32 and retains a cylindrical weight 36therein and it will be understood that the extension 32 forming thetubular member is utilized as handle means for the laundry weight 10.The opposite end of the elongated members 20 and 22 is provided with azig-zag portion 38 in complemental relation to each other therebyforming a gripping means for the lower edge of the laundry item 14. Theouter end of the member 22 has an otfset portion 40 forming an entranceguide for the laundry item 14.

As specifically shown in Figures 5 and 6, a pair of wooden members 42and 44 are pivoted together by a spring member 46 and one end of themembers 44 and 42 is provided with a cloth gripping contact area 48 andthe other end thereof is tapered and forms handles 50 in the nature ofconventional and well known clothespins. A weight 52 of semi-cylindricalshape is positioned on each handle portion 50 by a strap 54 encirclingthe weight 52 and secured to the weight and to the wooden handle 50 bysuitable small nails 56. It will be seen that each of the weights 52 issecured by a pair of straps 54 thereby assuring the attachment of theweights 52 to the handle portions 50 of the laundry weight 12. It willbe seen that the device of Figures 5 and 6 may be utilized for smallerarticles such as diapers, wash clothes, dish towels, or the like.

The operation of the device will be readily understood. The laundry item14 is positioned on the clothesline 16 and held thereon by theclothespins 18 in the usual manner. In order to prevent the laundry itemfrom winding around the clothesline 16, the laundry weight 10 or 12 ispositioned on the lower edge of the laundry item 14. It will be seenthat the laundry weights 10 and 12 are retained on the laundry item 14by the respective spring means 28 and 46 and the weight members 36 or 52retain the laundry item 14 in a substantially vertical and extendedposition thereby facilitating the drying operation and also preventingthe usual winding and wrapping of the laundry item 14 about theclothesline or other pieces on the clothesline. Further, it will beunderstood that the device may be constructed of any readily obtainablematerial which is rust-proof and simple in construction therebyenhancing the economic feasibility and the ease of using the laundryweight of the present invention.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A stabilizing device for laundry items hanging from asupporting line fordrying comprising a pair of elongated members pivotally attached to eachother intermediate their ends, spring means urging said members aboutthe pivotal connection thereby urging one end of each member towards theadjacent end of the other member for releasably clampingly securing themembers to a laundry item, the other ends of said members being urgedapart and forming handles, each of said handles being in the form of anelongated tubular member, an elongated weight disposed within eachtubular member, said weight being generally the same shape and of a sizeto fit the tubular member thereby distributing the weight evenly alongthe length of the handles, and inwardly extending bendable tabs on eachend of said tubular members for retaining said weights therein. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSFOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Aug.

